Morning Report for Friday 15 August 2014

8:57 AM.Let's have a chat to our Canberra correspondent Kerry-Anne Walsh. Audio

8:55 AM.Dunedin's name as a gothic, education city will get a whole new edge this weekend when it becomes the stage for the world's first zombie science festival. Audio

8:51 AM.More than 14-thousand hectares of trees on Maori land are still owned by the Crown; A Northland school principal who's resigned from her post is questioning where Maori knowledge fits into the… Read more Audio

8:47 AM.A retirement expert says successive governments have ignored the future impact of an ageing population, and more research is needed to prepare for it. Audio

8:44 AM.Figures released by the Minister of Immigration's office show the extent MPs are involved in lobbying in individual cases. Audio

8:40 AM.The race for the urban Maori seat of Tamaki Makaurau is on, with Labour's candidate, Peeni Henare, saying it's his party's best chance in years to win the Auckland seat. Audio

8:37 AM.The 2014 Rugby Championship season kicks off this weekend with the All Blacks in Sydney to take on Wallabies and Argentina in Pretoria to play the Springboks. Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Audio

8:27 AM.The Wellington City Council today plans to try to secure the sculpture struck by lightning when wild weather hit the capital yesterday. Audio

8:23 AM.Medical researchers say cancer survival in this country is lagging far behind Australia, and it's costing hundreds of lives every year. Audio

8:21 AM.Staying in the political arena, and Labour is grappling with another seemingly disasterous poll result. Audio

8:16 AM.And joining us is Lynn Prentice from the left-wing blog site, The Standard. Audio

8:12 AM.Bill Ralston worked in the parliamentary press gallery for more than 10 years, and joins us. Audio

8:07 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

7:44 AM.The sister of the Lower Hutt woman who died in a fall from an Australian apartment building has made a tearful appeal through local media for information on the incident. Audio

7:39 AM.Nadine Hooper, from Papamoa, was 44 when she was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2012, and is now in remission. Audio

7:34 AM.Medical researchers say cancer survival in this country is lagging far behind Australia, and it's costing hundreds of lives each year. Audio

7:24 AM.The Greens lodged complaints with the police, Parliamentary Service, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, and the Privacy Commissioner about the corruption and abuse of power it claims… Read more Audio

7:21 AM.Labour's front bencher MP Grant Robertson says Nicky Hager's book clearly exposes National's political style in developing smears and spreading rumours. Audio

7:10 AM.The Prime Minister John Key is dismissing claims made in a new book by investigative writer Nicky Hager. Audio

7:07 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:58 AM.The Dow Jones industrial average has risen a-quarter of a percent so far in the day to 16,692. Audio

6:57 AM.The BNZ-Business New Zealand's Performance of Manufacturing Index indicates the sector has continued to expand for 22 consecutive months. Audio

6:55 AM.The auto industry was one of the star retail performers in the June quarter, with the sector seeing its largest increase for two years. Audio

6:53 AM.Nuplex is expecting a better result from the current year after reporting an 18 percent bottom-line lift for the 12 months ended June. Audio

6:51 AM.Vital Healthcare Property Trust has some 50-million dollars of capital earmarked for the purchase and development of properties in the current financial year, primarily in Australia. Audio

6:48 AM.Australia's former monopoly phone company, Telstra, has produced much stronger results from the declining profits and sales we're expecting from Spark, the new name for Telecom. Audio

6:43 AM.Joining us is the lawyer and former Act MP, Stephen Franks. Audio

6:39 AM.Judith Collins, is under pressure following suggestions in the book "Dirty Politics" that she may have misused her ministerial power. Audio

6:28 AM.The Norwegian state-owned company planning to carry out deep sea oil exploration in Northland's Reinga basin says it will stop operations if there is evidence it's doing harm; A Northland school… Read more Audio

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Audio

6:17 AM.The latest from the Pacific region. Audio

6:13 AM.A Wellington cancer specialist says he's extremely disappointed cancer death rates in New Zealand continue to be much worse than in Australia. Audio

6:10 AM.The Prime Minister John Key is denying allegations of dirty politicking made in a newly released book. Audio

6:06 AM.An update from the team at RNZ Sport. Audio

6:00 AM.John Key insists his government's not hiding any dirty secrets. A medical report says New Zealanders are 10 percent more likely than Australians to die from cancer and the sister of a Lower Hutt woman… Read more Audio